Google + Rolling Out Vanity URLs - Slowly

Google + will be activating the ability for users to change to a vanity URL. Right now it is available for some verified profiles and pages. Google's Saurabh Sharma announced yesterday on [URL="https://plus.google.com/u/0/109179785755319022525/posts/aWREtiDhse2"]Google+[/URL]: "At first, we're introducing custom URLs to a limited number of verified profiles and pages. But over time we plan to offer custom URLs to many more brands and individuals, so please stay tuned!"

[URL="http://www.seroundtable.com/google-vanity-urls-15564.html"]Search Engine Round Table's Barry Schwartz[/URL] wrote, "I do hope Google 301s the old URLs to the new vanity URLs. Right now, both[URL="https://plus.google.com/100000772955143706751"]plus.google.com/100000772955143706751[/URL] and [URL="https://plus.google.com/+britneyspears/"]plus.google.com/+britneyspears/[/URL] return the same page with the same content. They are using a canonical tag, which I thought is a bandaid approach."